I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a passing comment (= a quick comment made without thinking about it very carefully )
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She got upset about a passing comment I made about her clothes.
a passing mention (= a brief mention when other things seem more important )
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There was only a passing mention of the event in the paper.
a passing reference (= one that you make while you are talking about something else )
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He made only a passing reference to his injury.
a passing resemblance (= slight )
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There was no more than a passing resemblance between the sisters.
a passing stranger (= one you pass in the street )
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Do not give your camera to a passing stranger and ask him to take a picture of you.
a passing thought (= a quick, not very serious thought )
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He never gives his appearance more than a passing thought.
have a passing/nodding acquaintance with sth (= have only slight knowledge or experience of something )
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He has a passing acquaintance with a lot of different subjects.
mention sth in passing (= mention something without much detail, especially while you were talking about something else )
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She mentioned in passing that she had an eight-year-old son.
mourn sb’s death/loss/passing
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She still mourns the death of her husband.
mourn...passing
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The old steam trains were much loved, and we all mourn their passing .
passing fancy (= the feeling did not last long )
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Wanting to go to Mexico was just a passing fancy .
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
mark
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So you wish to mark their passing with some action of respect to their memory.
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Apt sounds mark the passing of the hours.
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Little remains to mark their passing other than small artifacts, found in the middens of their daily life.
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The only thing missing was any tribute to mark its passing .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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the passing of the Cold War
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They lost the game partly because of ineffective passing .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Animals walked there, the vibration of their passing stirring Tallis from her earthly sleep.
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His passing leaves a sore gap in his family circle and in his wider circle of friends and acquaintances.
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In passing , we can note that one proposal for spaceflight is to use the pressure of photons from the Sun.
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It may be difficult for the modern reader to grasp the emotional effect of his passing upon his people.
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Other parents equate education with the passing of examinations.
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The passing of the Liverpool Corporation Act 1921 set the stage for inter-war policing.
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This resulted in the passing of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 which introduces a strict liability regime for defective products.
II. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
car
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The room is dark, but passing cars cast yellowy shadows upon the wall.
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It was an uneasy switch from the difficulties of homeowners to a light-hearted story about hard-up baboons staging hold-ups of passing cars .
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Windows like blind eyes reflected the lights of passing cars .
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He said that he saw no one at the bus turn-about with a weapon and heard no shooting other than from the passing car .
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She watched as the lights of a passing car lit up her basement ceiling, contemplating the patterns it made.
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So the poor discarded animals are bounced down the road only to fall under a passing car .
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The questioning face of a passenger in a passing car stared up at her.
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Lydia and Betty pushed their way out on to the road and sat on the wall that protected the customers from passing cars .
interest
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This was the brainchild of Martin and Hermon Bond, two farmers, who had more than a passing interest in golf.
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Yet caddis larvae, who do precisely that, command only passing interest .
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There were also rumours that newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell was showing more than a passing interest in Storehouse.
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After all, Levi admits to more than a passing interest in things financial, shall we say.
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Anyway, it does no harm for a politician to evince some passing interest in sport.
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The backlash is awaited with interest by everyone, even those with only a passing interest in the music scene.
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Overall, a must for the professional who already uses Illustrator 88 but of merely passing interest for the rest of us.
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I forget who had mentioned to me that Geoff was rumoured to be taking more than a passing interest in her.
mention
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I believe in trickle filters, but they rarely get more than a passing mention .
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Tonight was not about money, but about winning, fun, maybe a passing mention in the morning's racing press.
motorist
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These shy creatures may sometimes be seen and have been known to stray on to the road, startling passing motorists .
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He died in the arms of a passing motorist .
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He was taken to Middlesbrough General Hospital by a passing motorist and is being treated for leg and arm wounds.
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Sam stood guard over his blood-covered friend and tried in vain to flag down passing motorists .
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The gunman had stopped shooting and made off after a passing motorist arrived on the scene, the court heard.
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And there he was he was held up and shown to passing motorists .
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Her attacker ran off when a passing motorist stopped.
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The five soldiers prove, as always, to be quite a spectacle for passing motorists .
phase
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What was then judged professionally to be a passing phase continued for over four years.
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For most young people it is a passing phase which they will grow out of, but for some it can become a habit.
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This sometimes happens to men in middle age, and it is usually only a passing phase .
reference
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Making passing references to the poor, the black and to women does not make one a radical or even a liberal.
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Apart from one passing reference to the Statute of Labourers, social grievances do not appear in the petition.
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Unfortunately it gives rise to distortions of political representation too notorious to require here more than passing reference .
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Even a passing reference is sufficient, if readers will understand what is meant.
resemblance
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And Charlie, as her lover, bears more than a passing resemblance to yesterday's hero, James Dean.
ship
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We just seem like passing ships .
traffic
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I called on a conveniently passing traffic warden to help me out.
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As always with such radical experiments, business people feared for their prosperity, equating passing traffic with increased turnover.
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The shop assistant's attention was suddenly caught by something happening out on the road, in the passing traffic .
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Repeated warnings are given to the peasants to stay away from passing traffic .
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When he parked outside a row of shops, he stood for a moment examining the passing traffic .
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The nearby village of Trans is a charming if undistinguished little place, ignored by passing traffic .
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They might have been alone in the mountains, because the passing traffic never even penetrated their minds.
train
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He knows full well that we are not related, though he once waved to me from a passing train .
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Frequently and for no apparent reason, there would be a chilling burst of wind and a roar as of a passing train .
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Wendy and I were at once amused and embarrassed, but also concerned lest he be mown down by a passing train .
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As far as possible original characteristics have been carefully preserved, though the wall can not be seen from passing trains .
years
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Dent is a throwback to medieval times bypassed by modern progress, an anachronism that has survived the passing years .
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The passing years took their toll, of course, and he did go into a decline when Grandmother died.
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Over the passing years , time had been kind to Caduta Massi.
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Over the passing years , time had been cruel to nearly everybody else.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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passing fashions
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a passing glance
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At the time, I didn't give Alison so much as a passing thought -- I had other things on my mind.
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Most people take only a passing interest in their horoscope.
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Noise from the passing traffic could be heard from the backyard.
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Whether this is just a passing fad or a lasting fashion trend, only time will tell.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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After all, Levi admits to more than a passing interest in things financial, shall we say.
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Bernard reversed straight out of the new garage into the road and hit a passing van.
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But only for one passing second.
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Six-year-old Michael Smith and his parents were spotted by a passing yacht as they clung to a tiny buoyancy bag in darkness.
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The malaise about a shared intellectual and literary culture was short-lived, the product of passing confrontation.